In the robotics industry and/or other scenarios, it may be it may be desirable to be able to ascertain when an object is applying force to a certain area, the degree of force being applied, and/or one or more properties of the object. For example, it may be beneficial for one or more components of a robot, such as an end effector of the robot, to have some degree of a “tactile sense”.
In the robotics industry, contact forces may be determined from force and torque data sensed at mechanical joints of the robot. For example, a robotic gripper may include one or more sensors at its mechanical joint(s) to enable determination of when the gripper contacts an object and/or the force of the contact with the object. However, data from the sensors at the mechanical joints may not enable determination of what portions of the gripper are contacting the object, the forces of the contact at those portions, and/or other determinations related to the object or the contact with the object.
Other contact and force sensing technologies exist in the robotics and other industries. For example, a plurality of independent piezoelectric sensors have been proposed to sense contact and/or force. However, independent piezoelectric sensors present one or more drawbacks. For example, in response to initial contact of a piezoelectric sensor by an object, the sensor may create an electrical output that can be used to determine the initial contact. However, if the object is thereafter static, or moves only slightly, the piezoelectric sensors may not create additional electrical output that could be used to enable determination that the contact with the object has been maintained. Additional and/or alternative drawbacks of the aforementioned techniques and/or other techniques may be presented.